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Last edited 30 Jan 2021

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Sir Nicholas Grimshaw awarded the 2019 Royal Gold Medal

Sir Nicholas Grimshaw with the Royal Gold Medal 2019, image © Morley von Sternberg.

Sir Nicholas Grimshaw was awarded the 2019 Royal Gold Medal at a ceremony at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) on 14 February.

The Royal Gold Medal is the UK’s highest honour for architecture, presented by the RIBA in recognition of a lifetime’s work by a person who has had a significant influence on the advancement of architecture.

Nicholas Grimshaw has played a leading role in British architecture for more than half a century and is best-known for the International Terminal at London’s Waterloo station and the Eden Project in Cornwall.

He graduated with Honours from the Architectural Association in 1965. He immediately started in practice and won many awards for his early work. Grimshaw Architects was formed in 1980 and now employs more than 600 people in eight studios around the world and has won more than 200 awards. He was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 1994 and was its President from 2004 to 2011.

Lord Richard Rogers said: “I’ve known Nick since he was a student at the Architectural Association and followed his career closely. He is an internationally renowned architect and was an exceptional President of the Royal Academy. His buildings are outstanding, from the early residential tower in London to his many transportation hubs around the world.”

Lord Norman Foster said: “His architectural outlook is very much based in an honesty towards materiality and structure – like me, he believes that every type of building merits the same care in design.”

Coinciding with the presentation, the RIBA has opened a free exhibition charting the story of Grimshaw’s career from the 1960s to the present day. The exhibition explores his remarkable oeuvre through seminal works, with exclusive drawings, models and film.